Family Guy Crossed The Line With Its Constant Meg Hatred
It's become a bit of a trope on sitcoms for every character to pile on one individual for seemingly no reason at all. This happened on "The Office" where Michael Scott (Steve Carell) hated Toby (Paul Lieberstein) with every fiber of his being. "Parks and Recreation" carried on this tradition with everyone in the department being a total jerk to Jerry (Jim O'Heir). But perhaps no show has a better exemplification of this trope than "Family Guy" and the Griffin family's downright abusive treatment of Meg (Mila Kunis).
This hatred grew over time. At the start of the series, Meg was just an unpopular girl who dealt with bullying at school and misunderstanding from her family. But over time, her parents and siblings have taken to verbally berating and sometimes physically assaulting Meg. It's all done in the service of humor, but one has to wonder if it's ever taken too far from time to time. That appears to be what some Redditors believe, as many of them believe Meg has it too hard on the show.
Many people felt bad for Meg
The fan conversation surrounding the hatred of Meg has been going on for years, as evidenced on Reddit. One user posited the notion to their fellow "Family Guy" fans, pointing out how poorly she was treated in one episode, "The scenes are great and funny and well done but for the first time ever (this rewatch) I actually started to feel bad for Meg. When they are writing and she is giving suggestions that make sense and they shut her down." There was no shortage of examples to pull from, with u/sirdarkchylde pointing out, "When Peter is standing in the hallway with a bat and Meg asked him what is going on, he stared at her for a few seconds and then knocked her unconscious."
However, one of the most egregious examples of Meg's mistreatment was cited by u/saraboo2324: "I love Meg and I hate that they're so awful to her. When she finally stands up to them and says how awful of a mother Lois is and same with Peter, I was so glad. But when she took it back to make things the same again, that made me upset." This is in reference to Season 10's "Seahorse Seashell Party" where Meg finally stands up for herself. But without her serving as a lightning rod, the rest of the family turns on one another. By the end, Meg accepts her fate as the family's punching bag, in what's arguably one of the most unintentional saddest endings of "Family Guy" ever.
The abuse even extends into the real world, with Mila Kunis revealing on The Graham Norton Show how people will say, "Shut up, Meg" to her. Being mean toward a cartoon character is one thing, but it shouldn't extend into the real world.